Song Yadong walked away from UFC 265 the victor, even though the crowd in Houston wasn’t thrilled with the judges’ decision.

In the UFC 265 main card opener, Yadong (17-5-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) defeated Casey Kenney (16-4-1 MMA, 5-3 UFC) by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).

The bantamweight bout took place at Toyota Center in Houston. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Throughout the fight, and especially early, Kenney pushed the pace. However, Yadong proved that aggression doesn’t always translate to successful offensive output as he pelted Kenney with numerous counterstrikes.

The fight largely took place on the feet from a distance, though there was some cage-pushing. While Kenney had his moments, Yadong appeared to land the harder and cleaner strikes. As the fight progressed, Yadong positioned himself in a successful range where he could kick and punch Kenney.

When the fight ended, each fighter signaled his belief he did enough. Upon the reading of the split decision, the crowd booed and Kenney jumped on the fence to pump up more jeers. Regardless, it was Yadong who stepped into the winner’s circle for his post-fight interview.

Casey Kenney climbed the cage after he lost a split decision to Song Yadong at #UFC265 pic.twitter.com/i5kb0m2z1T

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 8, 2021

The win punches Yadong’s ticket back into the win column after a unanimous decision defeat to Kyler Phillips at UFC 259 in March. He moves to 2-1-1 in his most recent four fights.

Kenney takes his second defeat in as many fights. At UFC 259, Kenney lost a split decision to former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 265 results include:

• Song Yadong def. Casey Kenney via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
• Rafael Fiziev def. Bobby Green via unanimous decision decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
• Vince Morales def. Drako Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alonzo Menifield def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jessica Penne def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:32
• Manel Kape def. Ode Osbourne via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:44
• Miles Johns def. Anderson Dos Santos via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 1:16
• Melissa Gatto def. Victoria Leonardo via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
• Johnny Munoz def. Jamey Simmons via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:35